Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has confirmed that he plans to retire from the game when he calls time on his Santiago Bernabeu career.
The 62-year-old has enjoyed a highly distinguished managerial career in Europe's top five leagues after taking on his first job with Reggiana in the summer of 1995.
Ancelotti has since sat in the dugout for Real Madrid, Chelsea, AC Milan, Napoli, Bayern Munich, Parma, Juventus, Everton and Paris Saint-Germain, earning a glittering haul of silverware along the way.
After an acrimonious exit from Everton in the summer of 2021, Ancelotti has gone on to lead Real Madrid to the 2021-22 La Liga title and semi-finals of the Champions League during his second spell in the Spanish capital.
Ancelotti is under contract at the Bernabeu for another two years, and he has now revealed that the Real Madrid job will most likely be his last as a manager.
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"After Real Madrid, yes, I will probably retire. If the club wants me here for ten years, I will train for ten years. But then I would like to be with my grandchildren, go on vacation with my wife," Ancelotti told Amazon Prime Video.
"There are so many things that you put aside when you choose this profession... I have never been to Australia; I have never been to Rio de Janeiro. I would like to visit my sister more often. Unfortunately, today I cannot do it, so the day I retire, I will have all these things to do."
Ancelotti's managerial career has seen him win the Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga and Serie A, and he became the first manager in history to win top-flight titles in all top five European leagues following Real's 2021-22 success.
The Italian is also part of an elite crowd with Zinedine Zidane and Bob Paisley as one of three managers to win the Champions League three times, while he was named the World's Best Club Coach in 2006 and 2014.
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A highly successful playing career also saw Ancelotti win the Champions League twice in the heart of the AC Milan midfield, making him one of seven men to lift the trophy as a player and manager.
Ancelotti's bid for a record-breaking fourth Champions League managerial crown is still alive, but Los Blancos welcome Manchester City to the Bernabeu for Wednesday's semi-final second leg with a 4-3 deficit to overturn.
Real head into Wednesday's game without the services of Eden Hazard, Gareth Bale and Isco, but David Alaba has made the squad after coming off with an adductor injury in last week's first leg.
Ancelotti does not expect Alaba to be fit to start the game, though, so Nacho Fernandez should line up alongside Eder Militao in the heart of the Blancos' defence.
During the same interview, Ancelotti also talked up Karim Benzema's chances of winning the Ballon d'Or, and the Frenchman will be out to break a Champions League goalscoring record set by Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday evening.
Ben Knapton
